Dachser opens offices in 21 new countries despite gloomy outlook
FORWARDER Dachser Air & Sea Logistics has announced that despite the gloomy economy, it will soon open offices in 21 new countries and will enlarge its activities in Vietnam to cope with the shift in the company' most important trade lanes.

The company' managing director, Thomas Reuter, explained that while the China-Europe and China-US trades are where officials see the most opportunity, new countries are becoming hotspots for the organisation.

"When we talk about retail and fashion, it can be seen that trades have switched from China toward countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam," he said. "But also, other countries are becoming more and more important ... like Colombia and Indonesia."

Last year, the company handled 50,000 tonnes of air freight and took in nearly US$6 million in total gross revenue. "From our perspective, we experienced a successful year on air freight in 2011," Mr Reuter said.

While air freight is an important part of Dachser's business, the company also does a healthy bit of sea freight business. In this time of high fuel prices, he's seen customers favour the sea freight side of transportation options, but he also knows that some customers can't easily make the switch from air freight to sea freight. For those customers, and really, for everyone involved in shipping, Mr Reuter said the coming months will be tough, according to Atlanta-area Air Cargo World News.

"Air and sea freight are very volatile businesses, where it is hard to predict the next months to come; the air and sea freight business is tightly connected with the international economy," he added. "In times like these - when European economies are losing ground, when the US economy is on hold due to the presidential elections, and even China starts lowering their own economic expectations - it really does become a challenging environment for the air and sea freight forwarder."

Despite the gloomy global economy, Mr Reuter can see the way forwards. "With continued perseverance and a bit of expansion, perhaps bigger things are in store for the company," he said.

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Zim CFO Allon Raveh to quit by January, guided company through bad times
ISRAELI flag carrier ZIM Integrated Shipping Ltd (Zim Line) recently announced its chief financial officer Allon Raveh has resigned and will leave the company by the end of the year after serving the company for four years.

Zim Line's president and CEO Rafi Danieli said: "Allon took part in Zim's financial plan and the negotiations with the banks regarding the improvement of the company's financial covenants, in light of the deteriorating situation of the shipping industry in recent years. I would like to thank Allon for his contribution and wish him every success in the future."

So far, Mr Raveh's replacement has not been announced. Zim has been confronted with financial troubles and running in the red since the end of 2008. The carrier has not posted its financial results for the second quarter, so it is still too early to say whether it could benefit from a series of previous freight rate increases and return to profit in the second quarter.

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M+R strengthens Asian network with new office in Johor Bahru, Malaysia
M+R FORWARDING Asia has decided to cover Malaysia through the establishment of its own subsidiary after having been represented in the country by Network Partners for more than 20 years.

The new company will initially operate with an office in Johor Bahru, with further expansion in the planning.

The new office works in close co-operation with M+R Singapore, which has a lead function in all M+R operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Malaysia, a member state of ASEAN and APEC, has always played a vital role in the area and has become an important manufacturer and exporter of high tech products, especially in the field of Information Technology.

M+R Malaysia provides a full range of sea- and air freight services as well as project cargo services for the oil and gas second as well as other industries via all major harbours and airports in Malaysia.

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M+R Singapore appoints Gareth Evans as new executive director
FOLLOWING the visit of the M+R Spedag Group's owner and manager Daniel Richner to Thailand, the company has promoted Gareth Evans as executive director, with effect from January 1 this year.

"Gareth has joined M+R Singapore in 2004 and has done a tremendous job in making M+R Singapore a very successful entity," a company statement said.

In his new capacity as executive director, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, Mr Evans will be responsible for management and development of these three countries, as well as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

"Gareth with his vast experience in general forwarding, projects, in particular in the oil and gas sector, as well as his entrepreneurial drive makes him the ideal person to bring these countries to the next level within the M+R Spedag Group. As in the past 26 years, we always focus to continuously enlarge our network to serve customers and agent partners on the expected highest quality level," said the company statement.

Founded in 1952 as a freight forwarding company, the M+R Spedag Group is still a family-owned transport and logistics company based in Basel, Switzerland. Original owners Roger Metzger and Hansruedi Richner, passed on management to son Daniel Richner, who took over all shares of the company as well as the presidency of the group in 2006.

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Ben Vree succeeds Martin Poulsen as chairman APM Terminals, Europe
APM Terminals, a member of the AP Moller-Maersk Group, has named Ben Vree as its new executive chairman of European operations. He succeeds Martin Poulsen, who takes over the new post of global "safety activist," responsible for improving safety standards worldwide.

Mr Vree had been appointed chief executive of APM Terminals Rotterdam earlier this year, to oversee the company's facilities and maintain its competitive position in Europe's biggest container port.

The terminal operator's European operations account for 36 per cent of the company's global container volume and 25 per cent of its revenues.

Before joining APM Terminals, Mr Vree was the CEO of North Sea Group, a Netherlands-based trader and distributor of oil products and biofuels, from 2011 to 2012.

"I am excited about this new opportunity to contribute in this challenging market toward the further development and growth of the APM Terminals global port, terminal and inland services network in the Europe region," Mr Vree said.

"Our goal is to not only grow and optimise the existing network, but further improve standards on safety and environmental care and expand our customer base."